I'm A Noob Planning On Making Some Armour...

[matt113]

Hi! I'm new here, My name is Matt, from Autralia, and YES I ride a kangaroo to school everyday...



Planning on making some nice Mjolnir armour (Mark 6 Halo 3 armour), but I have a few questions.

Whats best material to make it out of? I wanted to make it from thick metal or something like that, so it wont break too easily when I ride my kangaroo to school, and metal=shiny+realistic. Will it be too heavy?

What will the visor be made from? And how do I tint it gold? How will I do the carvings in the visor?

What kind of cusioning would be used inside the helmet to hold it in place?

How does the armour cling to you body?

How will I bend the metal into place if I was to use it? For e.g, the helmet has curves in it, as you can see here:

http://reparent.blog.uvm.edu/images/masterchief.jpg

Do I just simply bend each part it into position?

I know this question sounds stupid but... Can I put aircon in the helmet and some other parts? You know, it'll get kind of hot in there. By the looks of it it'll fit perfect in the back part.

What clothing do I wear under it?



This is what I already know:

I am going to scale every part to my body size, obviously.

I will have to create each section individualy, then weld all them little bits together, like a puzzle!

I am going to have so much fun with this suit. I'll go down to the shopping center and walk around normaly, and ask random people things like "Have you seen any covenant around here? I need to finish this fight". Then I'll run around with halo music playing!!! XD

Plus its the ultimate costume/halo-ween suit. Thats what I call a real Halo-ween.

 

[A Guardian]

Well first off, people need to stop usine "noob" for people that are just starting. "newb" is proper. A "noob" is someone that knows the rules and chooses not to follow them. A "newb" is someone new who needs to be taught the rules and ropes.



And id say with the metal to try to contact the two people (that i know of) that have experience with making suits out of metal.

Ill see if i cant find who they are and post links to them.



But judging by the fact that you live in Australia, i dont think metal is a good option.

Look cool but dieing of heat exhaustion is not cool.

Look cool and stay cool(ish) with the regular method.

Check out the stickies for all the info you'll need.

 

[Foxw]

First off, Welcome aboard Matt. I'm fairly new to these boards myself (not to costuming mind you), but Already I've found these guys to be extremely helpful & friendly.



Prolly some of the best folks you'll likely run across on the net.



Now as per your quandary. yeah you can make it from metal, but frankly mate, you'll roast yourself faster then sitting on the barbie. It just Won't be comfortable. It will be hot & very heavy. even worse so given your climate, won't matter if your in sydney or nsw's I doubt any aircon method will really help that (imagine sitting in a black car at midday on the hottest day in summer, with all the windows rolled up). Metal is nice for the realisim, but brutal to make into a suit in my experience.



So you really have 2 methods you can work with.

- making a clay mold & vac-forming the parts

- using the pep, bondo & fiberglass method.



both are actually very stable. My old stormtrooper armor lasted a good ten years (in which time It was beaten on, used in paintball games etc), before dyin on me.



Not most of your questions can be found in most of the stickies in this forum. So I suggest loading those up, taking a read thru, that way you can ask more specific questions.



best of luck to ya.

 

[HaloGoddess]

Will it be too heavy? Yes, it's metal. It gets heavy.



What will the visor be made from? And how do I tint it gold? How will I do the carvings in the visor? You buy a real visor like the ones used in a motorcycle helmet. You don't need to tint it since you just buy a gold visor. If you want to actually carve the lines, you use a dremel, or you buy another visor and cut that one to create what we call a dual visor.



What kind of cusioning would be used inside the helmet to hold it in place? You get soft foam padding.



How does the armour cling to you body? Huh? It won't cling. You have to figure out on your own how to strap everything together.



How will I bend the metal into place if I was to use it? For e.g, the helmet has curves in it, as you can see here:

http://reparent.blog...masterchief.jpg

Do I just simply bend each part it into position? You obviously have to have some understanding of how to work with metal in order to shape it.



I know this question sounds stupid but... Can I put aircon in the helmet and some other parts? You know, it'll get kind of hot in there. By the looks of it it'll fit perfect in the back part. Some people use the small computer fans and wire it up so there is a tiny fan or 2 inside the helmet.



What clothing do I wear under it? Whatever you want.

 

[MADsMoKe]

Welcome man as Fox W says there is alot of helpful people here including him.



As for making you Suit out of Metal, yes it would look really realistic but c'mon it would be hot enough in that suit to cook some cookies so imagine how long you will be able to keep it on for.



As for your other questions read the stickies they really do help.



There is one for making visor's i will try and find it and link it to you.



Welcome

 

[Tahu]

Welcome to the 405th!



You can actually if you like, tint gold on a normal see-through motorcycel visor. It will cost less, but demand quite alot more from you.

More information about that, you will find in the stickies in the creation forum. I strongly suggest not making the armour from metal, because

it will cost alot, get hot, not very flexiable, and the other one looks better in my opion.



Good luck pepping!



/Tahu

 

[matt113]

Thanks for answering my questions! Now I know where to start. I'll give some updates when I actualy START making it.



If it was made from metal, would aircon counter-act the heat?

 

[sdhoigt]

Thanks for answering my questions! Now I know where to start. I'll give some updates when I actualy START making it.



If it was made from metal, would aircon counter-act the heat?

most likely no, because AC controls the air temp... your problem is that if you were standing in the sun for any period of time your suit's metal would become like a frying pan and cook you on contact. so id say Pepping is still the best option

 

[Jay123way]

Alright here we go...



Q:Whats best material to make it out of? I wanted to make it from thick metal or something like that, so it wont break too easily when I ride my kangaroo to school, and metal=shiny+realistic. Will it be too heavy?



A:Unless your accustomed to carrying around 150+ pounds with you, and have advanced metal skills i would advise not to do it. There is a technique called cold-casting(plastic with a metal surface) but it would take an entire website to describe how to do that. For your first project, I would try using the pepakura+fiberglass method.



Q:What will the visor be made from? And how do I tint it gold? How will I do the carvings in the visor?



A:HJC Gold Visor cut to size(30$USA)for the detail I am getting some .15" thick plastic and I am layering it, with the design cut in it, onto the visor.



Q:What kind of cusioning would be used inside the helmet to hold it in place?



A:Well theres lots of helmet cushioning pads out there, just search for some on the net



Q:How does the armour cling to you body?



Aeople use many different methods, some tie it to belts and to each other in a covert way, and some use velcro. there are some threads on this



Q:How will I bend the metal into place if I was to use it? For e.g, the helmet has curves in it, as you can see here:

http://reparent.blog...masterchief.jpg

Do I just simply bend each part it into position?



A:Again, it would take a long time to learn how to work with metal(and its expensive!)



Q:I know this question sounds stupid but... Can I put aircon in the helmet and some other parts? You know, it'll get kind of hot in there. By the looks of it it'll fit perfect in the back part.



A:Most people run some cage laptop computer fans into their helmet and they run on the same batteries that the LED lights do. There is a thread on the LED lights in the tutorials section, i believe.



Q:What clothing do I wear under it?

Aepends on what you want to spend, there are some people on here that make their undersuits from molds. Others use under armor and pressure suits, and some just use an old leather jacket. Its all up to you how extensive you want to go on your suit.



Good luck with anything and feel free to ask any other questions you have. I am excited to see your work.



Jon

 

[matt113]

Yeh, I found out about pepakura thing today, but I'm not sure what I do with the fiberglass part... Hell, I dont even know what fiberglass is, as far as I know its plastic...

 

[XxCALIBERxX]

What they said! .



Where in Aus you at?



.



Cheers. Dave.

 

[matt113]

Brisbane... I'm going to start the printing soon, but first I need the paper (forgot what kind to use), and the layout things that I print.

 

[AnorexicVampire]

The best paper to use is 110 lb (stupid american system. Metric makes more sense) Cardstock. And fiberglass is not plastic. Similar in some respects, but not the same. If you go to a retail hardware store thing, you should be able to find fiberglass fabric. That will do the trick.

 

[matt113]

I watched this video today

The fiberglass part is realy confusing. So I "put 2 layers of 'aqua resin' on the paper, then add one or 2 layers of fiberglass for added reinforcement, then use fiberglass fill and more aqua resin" according to this video. Why is the fiberglass so thin? why does it look so big afterwards? did the 'fiberglass fill' enlarge it? I have also heard fiberglass can be dangerous or something, is this true? Is this a good method?

 

[Tahu]

Hmm, maybe I could give you a hint.



Normal resin would work, doesnt neccesarily need to be aqua resin. You dont need a respirator when you are working with aqua resin, but you CERTAINLY do when working with normal resin.



The fiberglass is thin, yes, but it will get very very hard when you apply normal resin to it. Ive glassed 2 helmets so far, both turned out good, what I do is:



1.Coat the outside with a thin layer of resin, let dry. (You could coat the inside also if you want to with a thin layer, but I dont though)



2. Start putting fiberglass pieces inside your helmet, (follow the stickies on the forum on how-to this), and coat the fiberglass pieces, pressing them down and avoiding air bubbles.



3. Start the Bondo process.



More about safety instructions is explained in the creation department , in the stickies. Fiberglass may look thin, but its rock hard when dried. If you got more questions, feel free to PM me!



Best Regards,



/Tahu

 

[matt113]

Cool thanks! I didnt know you could use normal resin on fiberglass...

 

[Tahu]

Most people do, because Aqua Resin is US only , and isnt the easiest to get your hands on

 

[matt113]

I just printed out an Assault rifle to get the idea of how this works (using normal paper), and indeed it looks very complicated... Do the numbers on the Pepakura have any meanings? And are there any techniques that need to be used? Or is it just like a jigsaw puzzle? It scemes I don't have any scissors on me at the moment, so i'll have to pick up some tomorrow, along with some glue (not sure what type of glue, just a glue gun?), and mabey i'll bring over my halo crazy friend to help. So far i worked out that if you click on each part, it will show you where it is meant to go. And thanks to everyone for the help so far, now i have the faintest idea whats going on.

 

[BenStreeper]

I just printed out an Assault rifle to get the idea of how this works (using normal paper), and indeed it looks very complicated... Do the numbers on the Pepakura have any meanings? And are there any techniques that need to be used? Or is it just like a jigsaw puzzle? It scemes I don't have any scissors on me at the moment, so i'll have to pick up some tomorrow, along with some glue (not sure what type of glue, just a glue gun?), and mabey i'll bring over my halo crazy friend to help. So far i worked out that if you click on each part, it will show you where it is meant to go. And thanks to everyone for the help so far, now i have the faintest idea whats going on.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJGotW4mYEA[/media]



[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4efkpaAlOWo[/media]

 

[BenStreeper]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqL9ruVX6Sw[/media]